XXII Olympiad

XXII Olympiad
Author: Roberta Conlon
Publisher: eBook Partnership
Total Pages: 389
Release: 2015-11-18
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 1987944194

The Olympics are meant to be a celebration of sportsmanship and fellowship among nations, but they have sometimes fell short of that goal. XXII Olympiad, the twentieth volume in The Olympic Century series, begins with the story of one of the most politicized Games ever held: Moscow 1980.In December 1979, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, prompting the United States to lead a 65-nation boycott of the Moscow Games. In spite of the absence of many of the world's great athletes, Moscow still produced legendary Olympic champions, like the great Cuban heavyweight Teofilo Stevenson, who became the first boxer to win three consecutive gold medals; and the Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci, who added two golds and two silvers in Moscow to take her personal medal total to 12. The absence of many top athletes also opened the door for others to make history, like sprinter Allan Wells, who won the first gold medal in the 100 metres for Great Britain since 1924.The book then turns its focus to the 1984 Winter Games of Sarajevo, Yugoslavia. It profiles the most dominant athlete of those Games, Marja-Liisa Kirvesniemi of Finland, who won all three individual golds in cross-country skiing. Sarajevo also saw the British ice dancing pair Torvil and Dean post perfect scores for artistic impression in their gold-medal performance, a feat never duplicated; as well as the participation of the first black African Olympic skier, Lamine Gueye of Senegal.Juan Antonio Samaranch, former President of the International Olympic Committee, called The Olympic Century, "e;The most comprehensive history of the Olympic games ever published"e;.

Beyond the Finish Line

Beyond the Finish Line
Author: Jonathan Finn
Publisher: McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP
Total Pages: 225
Release: 2020-09-23
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 0228004519

In the 1880s photographers and sports enthusiasts confidently declared the end of dead heats in sporting competition. Reflecting a broader social belief in technology, proponents of the camera stressed that the device could provide definitive proof of who won and who lost. Yet despite this remedy for the inadequate human eye, competitive races between horses, boats, and bicycles ended too close to call a sole champion. More than a century later, when cameras can subdivide the second into ten-thousandths and beyond, athletes continue to cross the finish line in ties. In this fascinating journey through the history of the photo-finish in sports, Jonathan Finn shows how innovation was animated by a drive for ever more precise tools and a quest for perfect measurement. As he traces the technological developments inspired by this crusade - from the evolution of the still camera to movie cameras, ultimately leading to complex contemporary photo-finish systems - Finn uncovers the social implications of adopting and contesting the photograph as evidence in sport. At every turn empirical obsession intersects with the unpredictability of sports, creating a paradox wherein the precision offered by photo-finish technology far exceeds the realities of human performance and its measurement. Separating athletes by the hundredth, thousandth, or ten-thousandth of a second is often a fiction that comes with significant material and cultural implications. A lively biography of a critical technology, Beyond the Finish Line illuminates the cultural role of the photo-finish in win-at-all-costs culture and warn that in our pursuit for precision we may threaten the human element of sport that galvanizes mere spectators into fans.

The Olympic Games, the Soviet Sports Bureaucracy, and the Cold War

The Olympic Games, the Soviet Sports Bureaucracy, and the Cold War
Author: Jenifer Parks
Publisher:
Total Pages: 205
Release: 2017
Genre: History
ISBN: 9781498541183

This study examines the Soviet bureaucracy responsible for overseeing Olympic sport during the Cold War. It analyzes how sport administrators used political savvy and professional pragmatism alongside ideological drive to expand participation, maximize chances of success, and achieve Soviet political and diplomatic aims.

Olympic Cities

Olympic Cities
Author: John Gold
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 594
Release: 2024-04-09
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 1040021425

The first edition of Olympic Cities, published in 2007, provided a pioneering overview of the changing relationship between cities and the modern Olympic Games. This substantially revised and much enlarged fourth edition builds on the success of its predecessors. The first of its three parts provides overviews of the urban legacy of the four component Olympic festivals: the Summer Games; Winter Games; Cultural Olympiads; and the Paralympics. The second part comprises systematic surveys of six key aspects of activity involved in staging the Olympics and Paralympics: finance; sustainability; the creation of Olympic Villages; security; urban regeneration; and tourism. The final part consists of ten chronologically arranged portraits of host cities from 1960 to 2032, with complete coverage of the Summer Games of the twenty-first century. As controversy over the growing size and expense of the Olympics, with associated issues of democratic accountability and legacy, continues unabated, this book’s incisive and timely assessment of the Games’ development and the complex agendas that host cities attach to the event will be essential reading for a wide audience. This will include not just urban and sports historians, urban geographers, event managers, and city planners, but also anyone with an interest in the staging of mega-events and concerned with building a better understanding of the relationship between cities, sport, and culture.

The Cold War and the 1984 Olympic Games

The Cold War and the 1984 Olympic Games
Author: Philip D’Agati
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 123
Release: 2013-06-05
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1137360259

The Soviet boycott of the 1984 Olympic Games is explained as the result of a complex series of events and policies that culminated in a strategic decision to not participate in Los Angeles. Using IR framework, D'Agati developes and argues for the concept of surrogate wars as an alternative means for conflict between states.

Amateur Sports Act of 1978

Amateur Sports Act of 1978
Author: United States. Congress. House. Committee on the Judiciary. Subcommittee on Administrative Law and Governmental Relations
Publisher:
Total Pages: 292
Release: 1978
Genre: Athletes
ISBN:

Sex Testing

Sex Testing
Author: Lindsay Pieper
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
Total Pages: 265
Release: 2016-05-30
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0252098447

In 1968, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) implemented sex testing for female athletes at that year's Games. When it became clear that testing regimes failed to delineate a sex divide, the IOC began to test for gender--a shift that allowed the organization to control the very idea of womanhood. Ranging from Cold War tensions to gender anxiety to controversies around doping, Lindsay Parks Pieper explores sex testing in sport from the 1930s to the early 2000s. Pieper examines how the IOC in particular insisted on a misguided binary notion of gender that privileged Western norms. Testing evolved into a tool to identify--and eliminate--athletes the IOC deemed too strong, too fast, or too successful. Pieper shows how this system punished gifted women while hindering the development of women's athletics for decades. She also reveals how the flawed notions behind testing--ideas often sexist, racist, or ridiculous--degraded the very idea of female athleticism.

Sport and Festival in the Ancient Greek World

Sport and Festival in the Ancient Greek World
Author: David Phillips
Publisher: Classical Press of Wales
Total Pages: 449
Release: 2003-12-31
Genre: History
ISBN: 1914535227

How did sport and festival affect the ancient Greek city? How did the values of athletics pervade Greek culture? This collection of fifteen new studies from an international cast took its inspiration from the exceptional Sydney Olympics of 2000. The focus here is on the ancient world, but additionally there is a sophisticated look at how Greek artefacts linked with sport can best be presented to the modern world.

The Olympic Marathon

The Olympic Marathon
Author: David E. Martin
Publisher: Human Kinetics
Total Pages: 532
Release: 2000
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 9780880119696

No Olympic event can rival the rich history and grand spectacle of the marathon. Created for the first modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896 as a commemoration of the legendary run by the Greek messenger Philippides, the race has endured like no other, producing a century of awe-inspiring competition and unforgettable stories. The Olympic Marathon brings the high drama and rich details of the past 24 Olympic marathon races to life in a way no other book ever has. This definitive resource, written by world-renowned Olympic marathon experts David Martin and Roger Gynn, goes beyond statistics to offer readers a vivid chronicle of the athletes and their memorable marathon performances. Fans will relive the compelling moments that have made the Olympic marathon legendary: Spiridon Louis winning the first modern Olympic marathon in Athens in 1896, Emil Z "topek's dramatic triple-gold performance in 1952, Ethiopian Abebe Bikila winning a gold medal while running barefoot, Joan Benoit Samuelson earning her place in history as winner of the first Olympic women's marathon in 1984, and many other fascinating stories. For each race, The Olympic Marathon provides the following: -A summary of the geographical setting and political climate surrounding the Olympic Movement -A course map and detailed street description -A step-by-step narrative of how the race was run -Biographical sketches of the top three finishers -A "Looking Ahead" section, which summarizes marathon highlights leading up to the next Olympic marathon Generously illustrated, often with rare and never-before-published photos, a pictorial glimpse is provided into the contemporary atmosphere and dynamics of each race. Plus, for readers who want complete statistics on each race, the book provides a comprehensive appendix. Included are chronological and alphabetical race results for all men and women who participated in the event and listings of the fastest men's and women's Olympic marathon performances. The Olympic Marathon is the authoritative book on the race that has captured the imagination of the world. It's a one-of-a-kind resource that every fan of running and the Olympics will treasure.